By KATHY DeSALVO
Power of Zyrtec, a spot for Pfizer pharmaceutical company promoting allergy medication Zyrtec via HMC Consumer, New York, and directed by Terry Windell of A Band Apart Commercials, bicoastal and Minneapolis, walked away with Best of Show at the 28th annual Mobius Advertising Awards, held Feb. 11 at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The Zyrtec ad, featuring visual effects by Sight Effects, Venice, depicts a man who opens his front door to get the morning newspaper. Outside, pollen flies through the air, flowers and plants sprout from the sidewalk and pets chase the allergy-stricken man back into his house. He heads for the medicine cabinet and Zyrtec to combat the allergy attack. Power of Zyrtec additionally took first place in the pharmaceuticals category.
Besides nabbing the Best of Show honor, A Band Apart figured prominently in the overall Mobius competition, garnering five other first place entries. Another Windell-helmed spot, Bee for Harley-Davidson motorbikes via Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis, topped the automotive/motorcycles category. Nikes Airport 98 directed by noted feature filmmaker John Woo for A Band Apart.35mm and agency Wieden & Kennedy, Amsterdam, won in the clothing, shoes, hosiery category. And three commercials directed by Charles Wittenmeier, two for Budweiser out of DDB Needham, Chicago-My Chair and Mind Control-scored in food/beverage advertising, and one for Alaska Airlines, Lawn Boys, via Seattle agency WongDoody, won in the travel/transportation category. (Wittenmeier recently joined bicoastal/international Propaganda Films. See story p. 1.)
Awards Show 101
In all, 101 Mobius statues were awarded to TV spots. Winners in technique categories included a Visa spot The Attic via BBDO New York, directed by Philip Kates of bicoastal Headquarters, which was honored in the editing category; the editor was Chuck Willis of bicoastal Crew Cuts. Another Visa spot, Elephant (see SHOOT Top Spot, 2/6/98, p.14) directed by Headquarters David Cornell, earned honors in the direction category, as well as in the overall production category.
Another spot honored for overall production and photography was the Chevrolet/Chevy Tahoe spot Drifts (see SHOOT Top Spot, 10/16/98, p.14) out of Campbell-Ewald, Warren, Mich., helmed by director/DP Eric Saarinen of Plum Productions, Santa Monica, with effects by Sight Effects. Another Saarinen-directed Chevy spot recognized in the photography and special effects categories was Garage, which Sight Effects also worked on.
Overall, of the TV commercial winners, Leo Burnett Co. came up the big winner with a total of 16 first place statues, with seven of these awarded to its Chicago shop. They included a Nature Made Pharmavite campaign comprised of spots Appalachia and Armistice, directed by Headquarters Cornell; a Kelloggs campaign consisting of Counselor, IRS and Waiter, directed by Kinka Usher, House of Usher Films, Santa Monica (Counselor earned another award in the Food/Cereals category); and a California Dairy Management spot Goldies directed by Kerry Colonna of Rhythm & Hues Studios, Los Angeles.
Other Burnett/Chicago winners included a Hallmark Cards campaign composed of Second Chance, directed by Joe Pytka, PYTKA, Venice; Love Lessons directed by James Gartner of bicoastal Gartner and Working Mom directed by Rob Lieberman of The Lieberman Company, bicoastal (now in association with bicoastal Straw Dogs).Working Mom was also honored singly in the personal items/greeting card category. The Hallmark spot Neighbor Lady directed by Kinka Usher also won in that same category.
Following Burnett, BBDO scored nine first-place wins, including six from its U.S. offices. Among the six are the aforementioned Visa spots The Attic and Elephant as well as Armstrong World Industries Twister, also from BBDO New York, which won in the special effects category; its effects were created by Quiet Man, New York. Another BBDO New York winner was the Best Foods spot Treehouse directed by Blair Hayes of Sticks And Stones (now The Hayes Office), bicoastal.
J. Walter Thompson (JWT) scored a total of six TV winners. They included JWT/New Yorks Lipton Brisk spot The Babe, honored in the non-computer animation category; with Loose Moose, London, serving as the animation studio; a JWT/Chicago Miracle Whip spot, Mans Best Friend, directed by Craig Gillespie of bicoastal Coppos Films; and a JWT/Detroit Ford spot, The Town, directed by Bob Giraldi of bicoastal Giraldi Suarez Productions.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More